Hurricane Rosa Will Bring Rainstorms Throughout The Mountain West

Remnants of a hurricane from the Pacific Ocean are dumping rain throughout the Mountain West region today and tomorrow.

Residents in Utah assembled sandbags over the weekend and 200 members of the Utah National Guard are standing by for possible mudslides and debris flows from heavy rains forecast over the next day. Governor Gary Herbert declared a state of emergency in anticipation of possible flooding.

The storm is the last trace of Hurricane Rosa, which so far has caused flash flood warnings in Arizona and Nevada, said Christine Kruse, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Utah.

“That moisture is continuing up into northern Nevada, Utah and southern Idaho, as well as portions of western Colorado and southwestern Wyoming,” Kruse said. “The precipitation we’re seeing today in all of those areas is mainly a result of that increased moisture.”

This year has seen warmer sea temperatures and with that an above average number of hurricanes in the eastern Pacific Ocean, she said.

This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.

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